RACE, March 2008: Ranvir Singh (Saif Ali Khan) and Rajiv (Akshaye Khanna) are two half-brothers who own a huge stud farm in Durban, South Africa. Horseracing is Ranvir's favourite pastime besides his other business interests, which are not mentioned. Rajiv, the younger brother likes the smell of alcohol. Embittered because the entire estate is in his elder brother's name, he hatches a plan to kill him and claim the insurance money apart from the other businesses. He ropes in Bipasha Basu (Sonia Martin) for this heinous crime. However, it turns out that Bipasha was already roped in by Ranvir...

RACE 2, January 2013: No flashback to Rajiv here. Anil Kapoor is carried over with a 'fruity' Ameesha Patel aptly called Cherry! Ranvir is out to avenge Sonia's death. The players now are Ranvir, Armaan Malik (John Abraham), his sister Elena (Deepika Padukone) and Omisha (Jacqueline Fernandez). If you have not seen RACE, you will not know that Anil Kapoor is an inspector. From Durban to Turkey, where this film has been set, he certainly has come a long way!

Ranvir befriends Armaan through RD (Anil Kapoor). He wants to partner with him to make huge money? But is that really his motive, or is there more to it. That is what makes RACE 2 racier than the first installment.

Director duo of Abbas-Mastan take you to a point in the movie and then take you back to explain what actually happened; either a few minutes ago or a few weeks earlier. That has been their trademark in their recent films. So you are not actually engrossed trying to unravel the mystery. You rest assured that, this will be revealed to you.

What you stay engrossed in, however, is in the super-slick action that is sure to pump your adrenalin. Saif executes his role, Bond Style. There's much more punch and pizazz to Ranvir than one saw in AGENT VINOD. The cars are flashy, the gadgets trendy and the fight sequences surely have to be rated right up there. Truly, Hollywood class. Some of the one-liners are smart too, while others dip to the pits. I mean, how did RD telling Cherry, ''I don't have time to pop your cherry,'' manage to pass the Censors. This is apart from a few double-meaning sentences, which are sure to make a family squirm in their seats.

The styling of John Abraham's character is not upto the mark. And there can only be one reason for it - not to overshadow Saif. Deepika needs to work on her dialogue delivery. A pause here, an emphasis there in her lines will give her acting a new dimension. Ameesha Patel, though playing a bimbette, carries off her role well. This is not to mention that she looks steamier than the other girls.